‘Star Wars 9’ theory: Son of Mortis may be confirmed by ratings leak – Inverse

Recent Star Wars leaks suggest we could see a character become fanged and demonic in Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, but who is it? Our initial guess was Emperor Palpatine taking some horrific new form, but one clever theory suggests the leak could be referencing a terrifying Force user we havent seen in the movies before, but one with a direct connection to The Rise of Skywalkers most intriguing plotlines.

Big spoilers obviously follow for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

In the British Board of Film Classifications official listing for The Rise of Skywalker, the film gets a 12A rating partially due to one scene described as follows:

A young woman finds herself alone amidst an arena of sinister enemies, taunted by their leader. A character briefly becomes fanged and demonic.

The young woman is obviously Rey. For all we know, this moment could apply to Palpatine. Weve seen his face melt from Force lightning before, so its possible he can make himself a little more demonic. But what if instead, its describing the Son of Mortis?

Redditor u/Urdur made an interesting connection between the Rise of Skywalker ratings leak and a lesser-known Star Wars character from the Clone Wars animated series. And its not the first time the topic of Mortis has come up in regards to the plot of Episode IX.

Its worth noting that the Son died during The Clone Wars, which takes place during the prequels, but considering he lived in Mortis, an ethereal realm that exists at the nexus of the Force (you read that right), anything seems possible. He could appear as a vision, or he could simply get recycled by J.J. Abrams into one of Palpatines spooky acolytes.

During The Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano are drawn into Mortis where they encounter the Father, Son, and Daughter. These three beings represent balance, destruction, and peace, respectively. The Son is capable of transforming into a monstrous Gargoyle thats similar in design to Draculas humanoid bat form. It definitely counts as fanged and demonic. (The Daughter also transforms into a slightly less terrifying winged beast.)

From what we know of various Rise of Skywalker leaks and rumors, this might not be the only Mortis reference.

Some kind of dagger with ancient writing on it has been rumored to play a key role in The Rise of Skywalker ever since it was spotted in an early trailer. Plenty of fans assume this is the [Dagger of Mortis]((https://www.inverse.com/article/61406-star-wars-9-new-footage-spoilers-trailer-dagger-of-mortis-rey-steals-from-kylo-ren), a mystical relic capable of killing immortal beings. The current location of the dagger is unknown, but if located, it could theoretically kill Palpatine should he achieve immortality.

The final Rise of Skywalker trailer confirmed the daggers importance, and a December TV spot revealed it could serve as a sort of map to some other key location. The going theory is that C-3PO can translate some writing on the dagger, but only if the droidsmith Babu Frik gives him a factory reset, the droid equivalent of death. The writing should, in theory, lead Rey to Palpatine for the final confrontation.

More recent leaks, coupled with those ratings, describe an arena of sinister enemies. So wherever Rey confronts Palpatine, shell be surrounded by Sith acolytes standing on the sidelines. Could the Son of Mortis somehow be among them? Or some other being capable of transforming into a fanged monster?

One things for sure: The Rise of Skywalker sounds scary as heck.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be released December 20, 2019.

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'Star Wars 9' theory: Son of Mortis may be confirmed by ratings leak - Inverse